Year: 2010

DRP to hold gathering to commemorate ‘Victory Day’

The main opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has announced it will hold a special gathering tonight to celebrate ‘Victory Day’, a public holiday held in remembrance of those who died in the November 3 coup attempt in 1988.

The Maldives was attacked by 80 armed mercenaries linked to the Sri Lankan terrorist group, the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom requested Indian intervention and 1600 paratroopers were deployed to the Maldives. 19 people were killed in the fighting, including several hostages taken by the mercenaries.

The escaping mercenary vessel was intercepted by the Indian Navy frigates INS Godavari and INS Betwa.

“We will gather and march in the main roads of Male’, said DRP MP Ahmed Nihan. “People who are attending are requested to wear black clothing because it was a dark and saddening day for the Maldives.”

Nihan criticised the government for not commemorating the day “as they should be”, accused several senior members of the government of collaborating with the mercenaries, and further claimed that the Maldives secured its own independence before the intervention of the Indian government.

“Anyone is welcome to join our gathering tonight, it is remembrance of the martyrs who passed away in the attack, and the black clothing resembles the sadness and darkness Maldivians were in back then,’’ he added.

Nihan said the gathering would begin at 8:45pm at the Artificial Beach and continue for an hour.

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Education Ministry slams news website for publishing names and allegations against students

The Education Ministry has expressed concern over an article on a Maldivian news website that published the names and schools of four students it alleged had sex.

The website said that one of the students had become pregnant and aborted the child, and that the school had “taken action” against these students. The website blamed the Education Ministry’s “inadequate policies”.

Deputy Education Ministry Dr Abdulla Nazeer said the allegations were untrue, misleading, and extremely damaging to the students.

“Publishing these sorts of untrue stories about students hurts the reputation of the students, ruins their education, and amounts to psychological abuse,’’ Dr Nazeer said.

“No student in those schools have committed any such activities, and the accusations are totally untrue,’’ said Dr Nazeer. “We are concerned as this disrespects the rights of children. Parents have complained to the ministry about the article.’’

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No will to resolve endorsement dispute, says Deputy Speaker

Neither of the major political parties wish to resolve their disputes over the endorsement of cabinet ministers, Miadhu reported Deputy Speaker Mohamed Nazim as saying.

“I think there is nothing obscure in this. We can move forward, I believe we can move forward with the cabinet endorsement. The reality of the matter is that some are worried over the votes they might get,” said Nazim, also an MP of the minority opposition party People’s Alliance (PA).

“All the parties have taken their positions to hinder the working of the Majlis, unless the Majlis carries out the matter as they want.”

Parliament was cancelled again yesterday in an ongoing dispute over whether to endorse ministers individually or collectively.

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Maldives needs to cut expenditure on salaries: IMF

The Maldives state needs to cease printing money and decrease spending on salaries by “a considerable amount”, according to a financial specialist from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During a presentation earlier this week Dr Rodrigo Cubeiro observed that the tourism sector had recovered from the recession earlier than expected because of the increasing number of arrivals of Chinese tourists.

However he observed that the Maldives has the highest per-capita government expenditure of any island nation, and urged the government to reduce this before the Maldives’ economic situation became serious.

Reducing that expenditure was in the hands politicians and the government, he said.

In June, the IMF’s Country Report for the Maldives pegged the country’s fiscal deficit in 2009 at 26.25 percent, and noted that while the “political climate for public expenditure cuts remains difficult… the coming months [would] be a crucial test of [the government’s] ability to prevail.”

The IMF report acknowledged that “direct redundancies were proving difficult”, however “the transfer of employees to the private sector (which accounts for about two fifths of the planned payroll cuts) has taken place in line with projections.”

Nonetheless, the IMF calculated that if the government continued to pursue economic reform at current pace and policy, the country’s fiscal deficit would increase by one percent of GDP in 2010 and 4.5 percent of GDP in 2011.

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Disdain for tourists natural when your home is seen as a playground: Seattle Times

“Part of the reason the natives disdain the very people who are the source of their livelihood, I think, is that their customer is there to have a good time,” writes Christopher Elliott in the Seattle Times.

“When your home is seen as nothing more than a playground, it’s bound to lead to misunderstandings and maybe resentment. I always envied the visitors I met when I worked for the simple reason that I had to work and they didn’t.

“Even when the tourists don’t break any laws, it’s not always easy to be nice to them. But like them? That might be asking too much.

“That doesn’t mean people in Orlando, or any other destination with a tourism-dependent economy, hate outsiders. I think it’s fair to say that we wish certain visitors would stay home, but when you’re the number one tourist destination on the planet, you can’t be too choosy.

“When I lived in Europe, we regularly made fun of our own countrymen. You could spot American tourists from a mile away: They were loud, dressed in bright colors and asked silly questions. No wonder people of my generation rolled their eyes when they talked about the Yankees they’d met.”

Read more

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Sale of Holiday Inn to be completed in November

The sale of the Holiday Inn business in Male’ to the Hong Kong-based Shangri-La group is to be completed by the end of November.

The current management were “working closely” with the new owners to “ensure a smooth transition”, said the hotel’s General Manager Michael Melzer.

Holiday Inn’s resort at Kandooma would be unaffected, he said.

The hotel will meanwhile be rebranded from the InterContinental Hotels Group’s mid-scale Holiday Inn brand once the hotel is handed to Shangri-La, presumably to the group’s business hotel brand Traders.

The landmark hotel was opened in September last year, the first international hotel chain to open in Male’.

Staff were informed in October of the decision by the owners, Male Hotel Associates, to sell the business to an international group. The Dhivehi Observer reported that the sum paid was US$42 million for the assets and business of the remainder of the building’s 27 year lease.

Despite opening to great fanfare the flagship Male’ hotel was quickly demonised through a series of cultural blunders, including advertising a BBQ and DJ during Friday prayers on the day of the lunar eclipse in January, but most notably its efforts to acquire a liquor license.

Liquor license denied

In November 2009 the Economic Development Ministry announced new regulations whereby individual liquor licences would be scrapped and instead issued to hotels on inhabited islands with more than 100 beds.

Adhil Saleem, state minister for economic development, confirmed in November that Holiday Inn had applied for a liquor licence, and the hotel quickly became a symbol for an anti-alcohol push by the Islamic Ministry and the government’s coalition partner, the Adhaalath Party, which appealed for no alcohol to be sold on inhabited islands.

Confusing matters, in December parliament voted 28-23 against a bill that would have outlawed the sale of alcohol on inhabited islands. Oddly, a number of MPs who argued vehemently for the bill then voted against it.

Among the MPs who opposed the legislation were Thohdhoo MP Ali Waheed, Galolhu South MP Ahmed Mahlouf, Vili-Maafanu MP Ahmed Nihan, Mid-Henveiru MP Ali Azim, Villigili MP Mohamed Ramiz, Feydhoo MP Alhan Fahmy of the DRP and Maavashu MP Abdul Azeez Jamal Abukaburu and Isdhoo MP Ahmed Rasheed Ibrahim from the People’s Alliance.

The Economic Development Ministry meanwhile argued that lax monitoring of the liquor permits had resulted in a black market for alcohol in the capital Male’.

But, the Ministry’s revised regulations were withdrawn following public pressure before it could be enforced and were sent to a parliamentary committee for consultation.

Under the regulations, tourist hotels in inhabited islands with more than 100 beds would have been authorised to sell alcohol to foreigners, but the hotel bar was to not be visible from outside or to employ Maldivians.

In February, the matter came to a head with a series of protests against the legislation, and as the primary symbol of the new regulations, the Holiday Inn reportedly received a number of bomb threats.

State Minister for Islamic Affairs and Adhaalath party spokesman Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed, one of the leaders of the protest, threatened to resign his post in the ministry along with other senior people if the government approved the regulation.

Sheikh Ilyas Hussain also spoke to the protesters, warning that the former government had been changed because it had “walked in the wrong path”.

If the new government also chose the wrong path, he warned, “we might have to work to change the government.”

Gauging public sentiment, the government withdrew the controversial regulations following a meeting attended by the Maldives Police Service, Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), the Home Affairs Ministry, the Economic Development Ministry, the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and several religious scholars.

At the same time the government did not reinstate the old liquor licensing system, resulting in burgeoning black market prices for the commodity – the street price for a bottle of blackmarket vodka wholesaled outside the country for US$6 rose from Rf 700 (US$54) to Rf 2000 (US$160) with the demise of the licensing system.

State Minister for Islamic Affairs Sheikh Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed said at the time that while there was scope for alcohol to be sold to non-Muslims in an Islamic state, alcohol was readily available to non-Muslims at resorts and the Hulhule Island Hotel (HIH) on the airport island.

“The tourism industry has sold alcohol [to non-Muslims] for a long time,” he explained. “But it is a concern to open bars in [wider Maldivian] society. Maldivians do not want to have bars near schools and mosques.”

Financial impact

The loss of potential liquor revenues drew speculation that the Holiday Inn would suffer financially.

Melzer said today that in his experience of managing the hotel for five months, “it has not affected us. We have very imaginative beverage menus that have been very successful, and there has not been a negative impact.”

The hotel was not in direct competition with the bar-equipped Hulhule Island Hotel (HIH), he said: “The main target of the hotel is corporate business and government travellers, and to a lesser extent the international wholesale market – particularly South Korea and Japan.”

The base business of the hotel was showing “very good progress” he said, with the main attraction “the high quality interior design, which is very luxurious and well received by international travellers from SE Asia and the Middle East. Another attraction is definitely the rooftop restaurant with its magnificent views and innovative dining concept.”

He acknowledged that one of the hotel’s key challenges “was attracting and retaining the right talent.”

“One of my areas of emphasis has been to localise positions,” he said, “but generally in the Maldives it is hard to attract local talent.”

Shangri-La, which already runs an upmarket resort property in Addu Atoll, has yet to announce its intentions for the rebranded hotel.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Holiday Inn property was being sold together with the business. The property itself will remain with the present owner of the premises.

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Aminiyya School board threaten resignation over introduction of grade one

The board of the girls-only ‘Aminiyya School’ have expressed concern over the Education Ministry’s decision to introduce grade 1 students to the school next year, claiming that the structural integrity of the building made it a danger to minors.

Ahmed Ali, a board member of the school, told Minivan News that the board members were concerned that the school building was “very old and weak”.

“The building is 32 years-old and was built with stones, it is very weak and if minors were brought in it would be very dangerous,’’ claimed Ahmed. “We have informed the education ministry several times about the condition of the building – last Sunday the whole board went for an urgent meeting with the ministry to discuss the issue.’’

The whole board, Ahmed said declined to bring minors to the school unless the building was renewed or refurbished to a strong condition and decided to resign if the ministry acted otherwise.

‘’The education ministry said there was nowhere elsewhere to keep the students,’’ said Ahmed.

The board also claimed it opposed the introduction of grade 1 students because of “social issues”.

“This is a school for females and some of them wear short skirts up to the knees,” said Ahmed. “If minors were brought in parents will have to come inside the school compound to fetch the students. If parents can come inside the schools compound, it won’t be only parents who will come in.’’

He claimed that other people would also come into the school “and harass the students.”

Deputy Minister for Education Dr Abdulla Nazeer said the ministry was aware of the concerns of the board.

“Their main concern was the building and it’s structural weaknesses,’’ said Dr Nazeer. “We have surveyed the building to determine its condition and have included the money needed to renew the building in our budget.’’

Dr Nazeer said when the parliament approves the budget, the project to renew the building will be commence.

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Civil Court returns missing Rf10,000 to owner

The Civil Court of the Maldives has returned Rf10,000 (US$778) after the money was lost by its owner.

The Rf10,000 was found by a person the court identified as Abdulla Zuhury of Hithadhu in Seenu Atoll.

Zuhury found the money on the pavement near Sultan Park on October 22, and handed it to the Civil Court, Chief Judge Ali Sameer said.

The Civil Court then issued an announcement informing the public that it held lost Rf 10,000 and asked the owner of the money to claim for it.

A person named Mohamed, of Alimasge of Hulhudhu in Seenu Atoll, came forward to claim the money.

The court decided that Mohamed was the legitimate owner of the money after he told the court the color of the bag the money was in, the area it was found in, and the denomination of notes.

The court handed the money to him declaring that later if the court found out that he was not the owner of it, it would be handed over to the court again.

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Man sentenced for indecently exposing himself to a minor

The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced a man to three years in prison after the court found him guilty of the indecent exposure of his body to a minor in Villingili.

The court identified the offender as Mohamed Saeed, 39.

The Criminal court said the brother of the male victim received information of the incident and reported to police that Saeed was attempting to have sex with the boy inside a guest house named ‘Beach View’ in Villingili.

“When police went to the guest house after receiving the information from the victim’s brother, police attended the scene and saw Saeed standing naked near the bed,’’ said the Criminal Court. “The boy was lying on the bed when the police arrived.’’

The Criminal Court said the victim told the court that Saeed went into the toilet and came out naked.

Saeed told the court that he worked in a cargo ship and came to Male’ for his vacation.

The Court sentenced him according to the ‘Act on special actions against sexual abuse to minors’ section 22[a] and 22[b].

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